Sharjah 24 – KUNA: Clashes between Taliban rebels and Afghan security forces have intensified around the major cities of southern Herat, Lashkargarh and western Kandahar.
According to media reports, fighting is raging around the aforementioned cities as Taliban seeks to seize them from government forces. Taliban have gained ground in most rural parts of the country but the latest attacks have raised serious risk of major cities falling to the group.
Earlier, an Afghan security guard was killed when a UN compound came under attack during clashes in Herat. During the fighting, the UN's main compound in Herat came under attack by rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire, a statement issued by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said.
"The perpetrators of this attack must be identified and brought to account," the UNAMA statement added, noting that the attack was carried out by "anti-government elements."
UNAMA said that no UN personnel were hurt in the incident.
The Taliban put the incident down to possible crossfire. "It is possible that guards could have sustained harm in crossfire due to close proximity of the office to the fighting," the group's spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid said.
Due to US-led foreign forces nearing a complete withdrawal of troops, the Taliban have made swift territorial gains over the last two months but have not yet captured any provincial capitals. Herat city is the second provincial capital the Taliban have entered in the last 24 hours.
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